A Comet's Altering Path
by RealisticRabbit18
Summary: In which Greg was a bit early in getting to his van and saw something a parent should never see. AU of my fic A Star of Another Name.
1. chapter 1

He couldn't trust them.

Even as Greg sat there calmly chatting with the Gem, Steven cuddled firmly against his chest, his mind was a storm of chaos over what he had glimpsed in the back windows of his van. Even now it felt like something cold had a grip on his heart and was squeezing it everytime he thought about. Each time he so much as blinked he saw it and the urge to puke got stronger with each sight.

The sight of Pearl ghosting her fingers against Steven's gem before lightly grasping it as if she was going to pull it out.

Of Garnet and Amethyst sitting there frozen, partly shocked by what Pearl was attempting and partly longing to see their beloved friend and leader.

He thought he could trust them. Rose had promised he could trust them.

But after what he had seen them attempt to do to Steven, a baby that had nothing to do with whatever conflict Greg himself had with the Gems, he couldn't bring himself to even let one of them hold Steven.

It's strange though, Greg must admit, that despite not trusting them with Steven himself, he still trusted them in defending the Earth and humankind in general against other Gems.

It was like trusting someone to protect the frame of the painting but never the painting itself.

Rose had wished for Steven to be free to do as he chose without the burden of everyone's expectations on his young shoulders. And Greg will make sure it will happen.

As Greg smiled at whatever plan they had for Steven's future living arrangements, his mind was already coming up with several different half-baked plans that were immediately torn down and replaced with better and more solid ideas.

His arms tightened a little bit around his son.

He will make sure Steven will be as happy as he can be.

Even if it was possible he wasn't the one going to raise him.

Greg scrubbed at his face tiredly, groaning when his back cracked due to him straightening out of his hunched position over Videlia's table. Despite this, he couldn't help the triumphant smile that made its way across his face when he finally took in the result of of a full weeks worth of writing, sleepless nights included ( when wasn't taking care of Steven, of course).

It was a leather bound journal, salmon pink in coloring and engraved with his name on the front and on the spine. He splurged a little when he had a galaxy engraved on the cover in silvers and golds but he had wanted his son to understand what kind of person he was. He wasn't sure how many pages he would need so he had gotten one with enough pages to make a novel out of. He had hoped it would be enough, even if the journal might not be necessary if things turn out well.

Inside the journal was Dudley Dursley and Greg Universe, from the beginning until the very end. Every little thought he could remember having, every little action and regret, it was in this journal.

His childhood with his cousin.

His teen years up until College.

Every dream he had, every song he had came up with.

His time with Rose and the Crystal Gems.

Everything.

Initially it was apart of his Plan C; his Plan C including the very real possibility Greg wont be able to stay with Steven. He had written it for when Steven would become older, to be given to his future guardian for safe-keeping until Steven was ready. He had even included advice for just about everything he could think of and the few precious pictures he had Rose and himself.

But now he planned for it to be something he wanted to be given to his son regardless if it's by himself or by his future guardian.

With the journal done, he could now focus his attention on getting his affairs in order and spending time with his boy.

He could sell the things in his storage unit, make a bit of extra money for the future. Or he could give them up to Vidalia, she's always up to gaining new elements for her art. Heck, if Amethyst was still talking to him he could have given up his hoard to her. They always had an odd bond over their hoards, no matter if it was mostly junk.

His van though...his van is coming with him.

He had that van since he started college. He had scraped and scrounged for months for just the body, and later on several extra months for it's parts. He poured his heart and soul into his van and it had served him well over the years.

It was the first thing he actually worked hard for, everything else being handed to him by his parents without so much as a complaint.

And when the time came, he wanted his son to have it.

it didn't take the Gems long to figure out Greg, and more importantly Steven, had left Beach City.

Needless to say, they could have handled it better.

Or, as Amethyst would say, Pearl could have handled it better.

The half-mad panic that quickly worked its way through Pearl until she was in hysterics had Amethyst keeping her distance and Garnet on constant watch, lest she decides to tear Beach City into pieces in the same way she tore apart Vidalia's house when she found Steven was gone.

Personally, she couldn't blame Greg for leaving, resentful feelings aside. There was points where she wanted to leave herself, and a few times she actually did.

But in those few rare times, Rose had always found her and they would spend days together exploring Earth, seeing things Rose had surely seen a million time before. After each day Rose would go home and return the following morning, until finally Amethyst would follow after.

But now she was gone and now no one will ever miss her when she left, or wonder where she is, or even come find her like Rose did.

No one will ever be like Rose.

Garnet had closed off from everyone, and Amethyst hadn't seen Pearl since she almost completely demolished Vidalia's house.

She was honestly tired of it.

She knew things will never be the same again, but did they have to act like they were the only ones grieving? Like they were the only ones that lost someone precious to them.

When Rose had… vanished? Died? Amethyst had ran, shapeshifting constantly but never returning to base form. Pretending to be something else, anything else with no problems and no real worries had helped her cope. The things she changed into didn't know Rose, they didn't know the Crystal Gems. They didn't know the world was now so dark and bleak and lonely.

All they had to worry bout was surviving.

Maybe it was about time she became something else again.

Something that didn't know who Rose Quartz was.

Maybe an owl?


	2. Chapter 2: One Big Happy Constellation

Out of all the things Hari expected at her door, her cousin wearing a sheepish smile while holding a baby didn't even make the list.

"I need your help."

Hari raised an eyebrow at his words but moved aside so he could get through. Greg smiled gratefully and pushed through, cuddling Steven close as he did so. Hari closed the door and followed after him, their footsteps echoing softly throughout the house. Hari lead Greg to the living room and he plopped down on a couch with relieved sigh, relaxing into the plush cushions.

Greg looked around, admiring the sea-green walls of the living room and some of plants had scattered around, as well as a few of the pictures on the walls. He couldn't help his amusement when he noted a some of the odd knick-knacks sprawled on shelves and a few tables, a few being ships in bottles with varied types of weather.

It seems Hari had developed her own hoard.

"So Greg," Hari began, dragging Greg's attention away from what looked like a tiny, roaring dragon protecting its precious treasure from intruders inside a snowglobe. " What kind of trouble did you find yourself in that brought you all the way here?" Greg grimaced, awkwardly fiddling with Steven's blanket.

"It's more like I'm trying to make sure Steven doesn't get pulled into anything." Greg admitted.

Hari couldn't help but snort. "If that's the truth, then I'm afraid you've come to the wrong person."

" Maybe," He conceded. "But I seemed to remember you always managing to get yourself out trouble, no matter how bad it got."

Hari smiled wrly."Perhaps, but most of the time I got out of it why with help."Greg winced, regretting his choice of words.

"Uh, right. Sorry." Hari's expression softened, becoming gentle as she stared thoughtfully at him, or more specifically, at Steven snoozing away in his father's arms.

"I have a couple of guest rooms that you and Steven can take over," She suggested with a sigh smiling softly when Steven yawned cutely. "but I would like to hear the story of why you decided to return to the one place you vowed to never return to at some point."

Greg told her about the past events that lead to him coming to her for help, leaving nothing out exactly two days into living together. He admittedly had to fight the urge to flinch when he came to the part where Pearl almost pulled Steven's gem out of his body, the scene still fresh in his mind. Though he did flinch at Hari's expression when he told her about it, intimidated of the green ice chips Hari called eyes and the strange aura that flared up.

He couldn't help the small sigh of relief from escaping though when Steven woke up, his big, curious dark eyes examining Hari in fascination. The ice had cracked and melted away from her expression at Steven's curiosity, and now she sitting crossed legged on the floor and was using her wand to create bubbles of soft light to entertain him.

Greg himself couldn't help but laugh each time Steven popped a bubble with a gleeful squeal, his giggles bringing a grudging grin to Hari's face.

 **XxxxxX**

Amethyst wasn't having fun anymore. Not at all.

Being captured and shoved in a cage kinda does that to someone. Lets not leave out that she couldn't shift while in here, it leaves an extra little punch that had Amethyst freaking out in fhe cage. Feathers puffing out and screeching type of distress.

Talking made it so much worse.

It had surprised her capturers, sure, but they had hardly broken stride over it and she had heard them mumble about having a price upped.

Screw. That.

She was no one's pet. A friend and a hilarious companion, yeah, definitely, but a pet?

No way.

She's gonna make them regret taking her. Dearly.

By the time they reached their destination, they practically sobbed in relief at finally being rid of the annoying and obnoxious bird. The shopkeeper had rolled his eyes at their over the top reaction before taking her cage, mumbling something about "how childish" and " ridiculous" they were being.

"I work with animals and creatures that can speak at volumes that would have their ears bleeding for days on end, and yet they whimper and piss themselves over a chatty owl? Absolutely ridiculous," He scoffed, setting her cage on a nearby stand.

Amethyst cackled uproariously in agreement, fluffing out her feathers and spreading her wings as much as she can while in the cage.

It would be like this for years, being stuck inside a cage and watching as all the other animals would be taken in by eager, bright eyed children and tired adults alike. Examining them as they examined her, waiting for her time to be chosen and let out of this cage at last. But it never seemed to be her time, they stopped being interested as soon as she opened her mouth and spoke up.

So she learned to stay quiet instead. Learned how to make only owl noises, to bark like a snowy, and to hoot and croon and chirp just like any other owl.

But. They. Still. Never. Chose. Her.

Why? Was it her purple coloring? Her gem? What was so special about the other, more boring animals that made them better then her?

But then, one memorable day, something amazing happened.

She was chosen.

The day had started out as any other, warm and children practically running in the store with eager, glowing faces and bright eyes taking in the many, strange animals showing off. Amethyst had just tooked her head on her wing and pretended to go to sleep, believing today would be another day of rejections.

And than that woman came in.

Bright, fiery green eyes and hair just a bit wilder a mane than her own had been in her foggy recollections of her base form, but pitch black in coloring, she had strolled in and made a beeline to the shopkeeper. They had spoke in hushed whispers for a while, the woman inquiring about some creature or another and the owner getting more and more excited with each second.

But then a switch was flipped and whatever the woman had next said had freaked out the man until he was screaming at her in angry, desperate tones, the animals raising hell all along with him.

Amethyst had long ago poked her head out from under her wing and was now watching them silently with wide eyes.

Finally the woman had seemed to have enough of him and pulled something out of her pocket and showed it to him. He didn't say anything after that.

The day passed by and many people in uniform coming and going to either take away animals or put them in medical attention for some. Amethyst watched everything, her feathers fluffed up and her frame huddled in itself as if to avoid their eyes.

But then fingers poked through the bars and into her line of vision, startling her into squawking and attempt to dodge backward. She crashed into the cage and almost sent it tumbling off the stand and onto the ground.

The woman darted forward, almost crashing over the stand herself to catch the cage. She set it back up, introducing herself and let out hurried apologies.

Amethyst thought Hari was pretty odd for introducing herself to an owl, but hey, she wasn't complaining. Especially if she's willing to poke her fingers through the bars again and allow Amethyst to nip at them to her heart's content in a petty revenge for startling the heck out of her, accident or not.

Eventually she left to speak to the others in low murmers for a while, but when she came back she was smiling at Amethyst.

"C'mon Lovely," she told her, unlocking the cage to Amethyst's great glee. "I have someone at home that's going to surprised to see you again."

Amethyst swiveled her head around and cocked it curiously at her words, but went to Hari's shoulder anyway.

Who the heck was Hari talking about?

 **XxxxX**

It's Greg

It's. Freaking. Greg.

GREG. UNIVERSE.

The rockstar that had changed everything in her life just by deciding to walk into it and then walked out when the damage had been done and over with.

And when she saw his pale, nervous face for the first time in four years ( four years. It's been four years since she last seen Steven. Steven's four years old now.) And before she knew it, she was screaming.

She screamed at him at him for hours, screaming at him for taking Rose away, for taking Steven away, for leaving her behind, and for not taking her with them and deciding to instead leave her alone with Pearl and Garnet in the wreck he caused.

But then she saw Steven watching her, and her screams lodged themselves in her throat, choking her. What replaced them was questions.

When did he get so big?

How did he lose that tooth?

Why is he hugging her?

Crying? She wasn't crying!

Oh… she was crying...she was crying alot…

Amethyst sunk to knees, her hands on her face and bawling her eyes out. Three year old Steven clung on to her tightly, babbling soothing nonsense and patting her cheek gently with tiny, tiny hands. Trying to comfort her, she guessed. They were both picked up and settled on someone's lap, said person hugging them both tightly and whispering apologies in her ear. She looked up to see Greg, tears running down his face and guilt practically engraved in the lines of his expression.

Amethyst cried harder, and dimly she thought she heard Steven begin to sniffle. She looked up to check and was confused that despite him using a pretty impressive kicked puppy dog look on her, he wasn't the one crying.

But Hari's back was facing them and it looked she was wiping at her eyes hurriedly. Amusement flared up in Amethyst and she began snorting, hands moving to her mouth in an effort to stop her laughter.

"Dude, are you crying?"

"Wha-? N-No! Your crying! I'm doing fine!"

Amethyst just comtinued laughing in response.


	3. Chapter 3: Time to Make an Impact

It was times like these, the warm, sunny type of days that was spent either in the garden or out and about, that Amethyst really enjoyed.

Today she was lazily sprawled out in the soft grass of the backyard, watching Hari and Steven planting another flower to go with the other hundreds enjoying the sunshine. Greg was settled comfortably in a rocking chair, guitar in hand and humming along to a song only he knows.

Dark Indigo eyes lit up with in interest when she saw a smirk dance it's way across Hari's face before she leaned over to whisper in a six year old Steven's ear. Steven cocked his head curiously at her before nodding in agreement at whatever was whispered to him and together they turned to watch Greg. Hari carefully pulled her wand out and with a quick flick a massive snake materialized, it's scales a dark bronze and black. Amethyst tensed, but forced herself to relax when Hari hissed something at the snake and pointed toward Greg.

Amethyst was sitting up now, watching as the snake slithered it's way to Greg and lay across his feet. Brown eyes flicked down casually before returning to the guitar, Greg's brain not quite catching up. When it did Greg did a double take, his frame tensing and hair bristling with each second the snake stayed until Greg was letting out muffled shrieks of protest.

Amethyst lost it, cackling loudly at the sight. It only got worse when she looked over and saw Steven scolding Hari over the mean prank she did before going over to comfort his poor dad.

Hari kept her ashamed look up for five seconds before she broke down and laughed, ignoring Greg's dirty look.

Amethyst plopped back down into the grass after the laughter died down and not for the first time wondered if things would have been like this if Greg had decided to stay in Beach City with Steven.

 **XxxxxX**

Hari leaned back into her chair with a frustrated sigh, tossing the reports back on her desk as she did so.

Another sighting of those strange…. Creatures. This time they attacked a few campers. Merlin, she wished she knew what to do. The problem wasn't capturing them, oh no, it was figuring out what are they are and where did they come from. These creatures were feral at best, but powerful and quick. Some had believed they were just previously undiscovered magical creatures, but Hari wasn't sure.

There was something about them that nagged at her….

She once again snatched the reports up, scrutinizing the pictures intently, looking for something, anything to give her a clue-

There!

On each of these creatures bodies was a gem, either a complete one or just jumbled up variation of gem shards fused together. she had fought and captured both types, and each encounter was painful and had twisted up something inside her. She had felt the corruption in their magic, felt the pain and the confusion and fear as if it was her own.

The ones they captured were sent to the Department of Mysteries for further examination, and if possible, to see if any possible afflictions could be reversed.

But for now, Hari needed more information and now she knows who to get from.

"Amethyst! Would you come here please!?!"

Rapid footsteps reached her ears, and two minutes later Amethyst charged in and leaped on the chair, laughing gleefully as chair spun at the force of her landing. Hari waited patiently, watching as the chair gradually slowed to full stop with Amethyst facing her with a wild grin. That grin dropped quickly from her face when Hari showed her the reports, mainly the pictures.

"Woah.. where didja get these?"

"These are reports given to me by Aurors and civilians alike. These creatures have been attacking campsites and magical communities in increasing frequencies and for a long time we had no idea why. That is, until now." Hari leaned across the desk, eyes locked on Amethyst. "So tell me, do know what they are? Or perhaps why there attacking people?"

Amethyst shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I'm not as good as explaining this Garnet or Pearl, but, it's like, these guys used to be just like myself, you know? But something happened at the end of the War, a sort of final attack sent by the Diamonds as one last screw you. It corrupted all the Gems still left on Earth, no matter if it's Homeworld Gems or Crystal Gems. If it wasn't for Rose protecting Garnet and Pearl, It would probably only be me and her on Earth."

Hari sat back, mulling over the new information given to her. Greg had told her of his Rose Quartz, how she was a big and beautiful being that loved everything and everyone on Earth. He had told her that Rose had lead a rebellion against her home so Earth continue to stay the way it is, untouched by Gems and brimming with life.

Hari never really trusted his words about Rose Quartz. He talked about her like how so many talked about Dumbledore, as if he could do no wrong. She could personally vouch that Dumbledore had made more mistakes than anyone else she knew, her life being an example of those mistakes and bad decisions. In her experience, those who are praised the most often had the biggest and ugliest skeleton in their closets.

And Rose Quartz wouldn't be an exception to that. Hari can already see some flaws in the stories about her.

Hari pushed those thoughts away and once addressed Amethyst. " Would you be willing to share everything you can with us? Or perhaps it would be better if you could work with us to detain these corrupt gems?"

"I don't know, man," Amethyst said, scratching the back of her head nervously. " I'm not supposed to be involving humans into Gem issues."

"Humans became involved as soon as the corrupt gems decided to make it so," Hari countered. "Hell, As soon as Gems decided to land here they involved humans."

Amethyst grimaced. She was right. Rose had loved everything on Earth but humans always had a very special place Rose's heart. She had loved constantly watching them, even going as far as to interact with them. But it had always been a game to her, liking playing with a pet or a child. She never took them seriously. Pearl's view on humans switched between them being annoying pests to decent enough to tolerate; it depends on how close Rose was to them. With Garnet it wasn't about her not liking humans, it was about humans being too intimidated of her. If they weren't so intimidated, they would have found Garnet to be kind and careful toward them.

Without Rose, Pearl didn't see a point in interacting with anyone, and Garnet was only one Gem, she can't be everywhere at once. Without all of the Crystal Gems keeping them in check, Corrupted gems will rampage in droves.

Amethyst knew what she had to do.

"Where do I sign up?"

 **XxxxxX** **Author's Note: I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update, guys. And for making this short. I wrote this chapter like three times but it didnt really feel right, you know? I'll try to get the next chaper done faster.**


End file.
